It is great to read about anything good that is happening in the animal world, anda place that I go to often to find some of this is all-creatures.org. Frank and Mary Hoffman's internet site is a throve site of animal news and related articles, and as their intro says, is hopefully "Moo-ving people toward compassionate living."

A gem from Pastor Hoffman's sermon of the week: "A truly strong person is a compassionate person." I concur.

I can never read all the good articles at one sitting, but this day I concentrated on their "Good News for Animals" section. It is so important to read about successes in our endeavors to make this a better place for our animal friends and there were five good happenings listed for them in this October 13th post.

70 MALLS ACROSS US TO BAN PET SALES. Madison Rootenberg wrote in Global Animal that the Macerich mall developer's pet sales ban was a year in the making and is largely the result of the efforts of one caring and determined animal activist - JenniferPeterson. As they say - never discount the work and dedication of only one person and Jennifer was that one special person in this case. Because of her efforts:

"Global Animal just received news that shopping center developer Macerich is banning sales of live animals in more than 70 malls across the US. This new humane policy designed to break the puppy mill business chain is taking effect nationwide within 30 days. Macerich confirmed that they will not renew the leases of existing pet stores that sell animals and in their place, are opening humane stores offering adoptions of rescued pets." Kudos to the Macerich mall developers!

How I wish that our no-kill Animal Protective League could get such help from any Cleveland pet stores in our environs. Sadly, the APL is swamped with so many cats and dogs needing good homes because of irresponsible breeding and lack of using their very reasonable spay/neuter services.

CALIFORNIAN'S VICTORY FOR SHARKS. On October 7th Governor Brown signed AB376 into law. Co-authored by Assembly members Fong and Huffman, this act bans the sale and possession of shark fins in California. Once again California is leading the states in compassionate laws for the animals or fish. The governor remarked withthe signing of this new law:

"The practice of cutting the fins off of living sharks and dumping them back in the ocean is not only cruel, but it harms the health of our oceans. Researchers estimate that some shark populations have declined by more than 90 percent, portending grave threats to our environment and commercial fishing. In the interest of future generations, I have signed this bill." Thank you Assembly members Fong and Huffman. Thank you Gov.Brown.

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MONKEY BREEDING FACILITY CONSTRUCTION DENIED BY COURT. "For more than two years PCRM (Physicians for Responsible Medicine) and other groups have worked to stop construction of the breeding facility proposed by the Mauritius-based company. Members of the Puerto Rico government also stepped in to try to stop the building. In November 2009, a commission established by the Senate of Puerto Rico released a scathing report citing a number of government agencies for poor oversight. The commission also found that Bioculture supplied misleading and contradictory information to obtain permits for the project."

Thank you PCRM and the other groups who squelched this horrible project in the bud. Thank you -the judges on the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals who saw through the subterfugeand shenanigans of the Bioculture Primate Supply Company in denying a permit to build a breeding facility in Puerto Rico. When I think of how over many, many years we have used so cruelly the monkeys and other primates, I am relieved that at least this one will never become a reality.

I sometimes remember sadly so many cruel experimentations using primates like the poor monkeys who were used in testing a better football helmet. These monkeys were subjected to repeated blows to their helmeted heads for this test. I don't know what the results were for the football industry, but I imagine these poor monkeys probably died from this unnecessary cruelty, and can you even imagine their excruciating pain? Surely a better, more humane test could have been devised.

At this site (all-creatures.com) there was an editor's note to watch COVANCE CRUELTY to see some of what animals endure in laboratories.

CATALINA ISLAND BISON BIRTH CONTROL IS WORKING. From In Defense of Animals (IDA):

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"Following the 2011 calving season, Catalina now has only three more baby bison, compared to 29 in 2010. A humane solution to the problem of bison overpopulation on Catalina Island has been found."

Would that Yellowstone National Park also use birth control instead of shooting the buffalos because their numbers "seem" to have become unmanageable. Why don't we use our heads instead of guns and use contraceptives to address animal overpopulation?

Perhaps the same can be said about the supposed overpopulation of the Mustangs of the West. Instead of cruelly running these beautiful horses off the range -supposedly because of over-population, we should have been employing contraceptive use- a gentlerway than running some of them to their deaths in hot weather for miles on end. Of course, the over-population reasoning could well be a myth. It's more like they are being run offpublic lands because the BLM is ceding THEIR land to the cattle barons. Another reason,besides your health, to stop or greatly reduce the eating of red meat.

I have been concerned about animal suffering ever since
I received my first puppy Peaches in 1975. She made me take a good look at the animal kingdom and I was shocked to see how badly we treat so many animals. At 77, I've been a vegan for the (more...)